


Rromani Danger and The Strike Clan

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Series: Vesta's Hearth [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Anglo-Saxon, Developing Relationship, Gen, Love at First Sight, Non-Sexual Slavery, Roman Britain, Roman France, mutual affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-11-18
Packaged: 2018-05-02 05:16:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5235599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt by the 5-Minute Writing Challenge on Tumblr~ </p><p>Raleigh is a discharged Legionnaire heading home after a long deployment. A pair of blue eyes changes his course.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rromani Danger and The Strike Clan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [davecabbage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/davecabbage/gifts), [the7thmauser](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the7thmauser/gifts).



> I was tagged a while back on Tumblr in the challenge and I swore I'd finish it. So... Ta-da! 
> 
> Enjoy~

* * *

The last thing Raleigh wanted to do was trade with this town. He managed to avoid it on his route the first time around but not on the way back. Rromani, his Legionnaire-assigned horse, couldn't stand the place either but she needed water and he needed food supplies for them both. The Roman soldiers (gods they were rude) always leered at him when he walked through the town after his supply shopping. 

And yet... Raleigh didn't even think about the slaver until he bumped into the man. 

"Looks like your cart is full, trader. Gaul or Briton?" The slaver's thick drawl of Latin was enough to set Raleigh's teeth on edge. 

"Roman and recently discharged so keep your stupidity to yourself, sir." He snapped before his eyes locked with a bright blue pair of eyes, the sound of rattling chain practically turning his vision red with anger. "How much?" 

"Excuse me?" 

"I said, _how much_?" Raleigh dug briefly through the precarious stack of goods to pull out a sleek blue cloth. "I'm sure you have someone who would appreciate this. I want all of them." 

"This lot is supposed to go to the gladiator—" 

"I'll give you something better. Tell them that Legion Commander Becket sends his regards." The slaver paled at his use of Title but Raleigh was more concerned about the obviously starving Britons. 

"Sir." The slaver saluted him but only earned himself a disgusted expression as the man began to brown-nose him. "They're stronger than they look, sir. Are you sure you can handle that many?" 

Raleigh looked down his nose at the obsequious fool and crossed his arms, displaying the scarred injury that had removed him from the Legionnaires in the process. 

"I will trade them at market value. No more, no less." He bargained coldly, removing several weapons and cloths of high-value. Raleigh placed two silver bars on top of them to seal the deal and the chain was handed over to him. The slaver vanished around the corner, Raleigh keeping up appearances until he camped just short of the Roman town. He fell into Saxon almost immediately. "I am sorry I took this long to remove your chains." 

"You speak—" Blue eyes hoarsely spoke before cutting himself off. 

"I do." He acknowledged quietly. "If you would wait a moment, I can fill out papers for you to travel home." 

The group collectively inhaled with tentative hope. 

"You would grant us our freedom so quickly?" The Latin is sharp and heavy but still perfect in pronounciation from the darkest man. 

"I never planned on keeping you in a state you did not want in the first place." Raleigh sighed heavily as he sliced through the weak chains with his Damascus steel blade. "I found myself in your predicament not too long ago." 

"Are you _**really**_ Legionnaire Becket?" Blue eyes blurted as he rubbed his slightly raw wrists. 

"Aye." Raleigh answered as he grabbed the box with his ink, quills and papers to write through the night if he had to. "First one. I'll need your names." 

"My son is Cenric and I am Hereward. Which name would you prefer here?" came the clear reply of the man that had been chained next to Blue eyes. 

Raleigh wrote out the letters and thought for a long moment. "Raleigh, if that is agreeable to you." 

"Leofflæd and my brother is Sigeberht." Leofflæd gestured to the man who had spoken clear Latin earlier. Sigeberht frowned and ducked amongst the small crowd as if looking for someone. "He looks for our daughter, brought to us via the trade. We would not put it past the slaver to leave her off of the chain..." 

"No, I found her." Sigeberht murmured as he steered a slight, slender woman from Nippon in a tattered kimono. "This is Mako," She appeared to be the only one unharmed out of them all, the men bearing bruises and cuts; Raleigh was in for a long night of bandaging these folk and releasing them with suitable clothes come the morning. 

Raleigh almost choked on his tongue from the amount of rage he held for the slaver. 

He finished the papers for those who wanted them and then went for his cart, carefully shifting boxes and crates to find the one from the Silk Road. Raleigh cracked it open to the eyes of former slaves, drawing out three layers of exquisite kimono along with a much simpler set for her to choose from. 

Mako took the simpler set and changed (after a short bath) behind the thick fabric screens Raleigh set up alongside the river for the women of the group. The men followed up with baths of their own and the blue eyes that had first captivated Raleigh were softer than before. The bright auburn hair glowed in the dying sun and oh dear gods was he _screwed_. 

He sighed quietly but didn't comment as they all bedded down for the night, Raleigh taking first watch. The scrape of the whet stone on his blade sent most of the crowd to sleep, leaving only those who had been soldiers awake. Sigeberht took second watch and Hereward took the third and final watch. 

Raleigh nodded off, trusting that the former slaves wouldn't do much harm to him.

* * *

He woke to the smell of his salted pork frying on a flat rock that had been carved to keep in the juices of the meat, Cenric looking at him with a furrow between his ginger brows. 

"Father, he has risen." Hereward nodded absently as he carved off a thick strip of the seasoned yew staff Raleigh'd had in his cart for months. He'd hand off the yew to someone who could use it easily. 

"Good morrow to you all. How many have taken packs and left?" Raleigh inquired as he scrubbed at his stubbled face. 

"Many. We will take our own leave shortly," Hereward simply admitted. "I must return to my wife." 

"My sister and I will also be returning home. Mako may go where she wants." Sigeberht added as he tied a pack that would settle on his back properly. He parceled out food to break thier morning fast. Raleigh chewed slowly, now at ease rather than eating in a hurry. 

"If Legionnaire Becket does not mind... I would like to join him." Mako expressed. 

He chewed for a while longer as he mulled over an answer. "If it pleases the lady then I do not see any problems." 

"I would also like to accompany Legionnaire Becket." Cenric murmured as he stood by his own pack, clever fingers twisting the braided fabric strap across his blue-dyed chest. 

Raleigh's breath caught in his throat and he scuffed at the ground with his sandal as he flushed pink. "If it pleases you." 

"It does," The blue eyes crinkled at the corners and Raleigh found himself anticipating the journey back to his atoll villa on the Blue Coast as he hadn't in some time. 

"Then it pleases me as well." His smile was as bright as it had been before his life in the Legionnaires, the three of them setting off in the direction of home.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, complain, ect.


End file.
